Season outlook: After coming up just short of the NCAA tournament in 2012-13, Tennessee's been pegged by many as a sure thing for this year's Big Dance. The Vols came up just short of making the preseason coaches' poll, but will be there soon enough if they can take care of business during the early portion of their schedule. They're expected to be buoyed by the return of senior big man Jeronne Maymon, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, and Memphis transfer Antonio Barton, who is expected to fill the void left by Trae Golden.

Phone a friend: After fielding numerous questions about Maymon, Tennessee guard Jordan McRae flipped around an iPad and said, "You guys can ask him yourself." On the screen was a waving Maymon, who phoned into the media scrum via Skype.

MVP watch: A first-team All-SEC selection last year, McRae led the Vols in a slew of categories, including scoring (15.7 ppg), minutes played (33.6 mpg), 3-pointers made (60) and 3-point percentage (.355). He made this year's preseason all-SEC first team and was a couple of votes short of preseason Player of the Year. He's gotten better with his shooting discipline and is one of Tennessee's top on-court leaders.

Coach speak: "Jeronne's one of the best defenders in college basketball. I hadn't seen everybody play but I know this. He's one of the few guys that's 6-7, 260 pounds, can guard on the perimeter. He can defend. He gets physical with Jordan in practice and he accepts those challenges. That's the good thing about him, he can guard multiple positions." -- Martin

Player speak: "At the end of the day, Jarnell (Stokes) and Jeronne both, if you don't double them, they'll get a layup almost every time. It frees you up in practice. I think that will go into the game as well. I don't think we have anybody on our team that you can just key in on this year."

Tennessee opens the season with a tricky trip to Xavier. Check out the rest of the slate courtesy of UTSports.com.